I was just reading The Lives of Sylvester Stewart and Sly Stone and came across this section about him and P-Funk which I thought was interesting.

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The collaboration between Clinton and Stone initiated a troubling descent for Parliament-Funkadelic, undoubtedly due to Sly's continuing drug addiction. As Bob Dedecker confirmed, "Sly became part of the touring apparatus and the recording band. And...it was the end of Parliament-Funkadelic. Sly helped introduce a number of evil habits into the band. Not that the band went unwillingly." Stone's drug use and erratic behavior lead to many conflicts between him and band members. P-Funk drummer Dennis Chambers recalled, "Sly was a chaos kind of guy. Creates chaos. We heard he was going to be with us, and we didn't know how it was going to work out... He was a real nice guy when he wasn't on that stuff. Sly was one of the nicest guys you want to meet. But when he was on that stuff..."

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Have any other members spoke about this?

LittleBLUECorvette said:

Sly was not the problem. P-Funk was into drugs before Sly got with them. Sly was into drugs before he joined P-Funk. The first record he appears in was Electric Spanking. They had already peaked by 1981.

Well, of course. But they were still going strong. I am just repeating the book here; two members seem to think Sly WAS a problem.

LoveOrConfusion said:

Those who chose to do drugs can only blame themselves.

LittleBLUECorvette said:

LoveOrConfusion said:

Well, of course. But they were still going strong. I am just repeating the book here; two members seem to think Sly WAS a problem.

2 out of 90 Funkadelic members lol. But seriously I think it was more of his appearances not studio recordings. He's onlyon what like 4-4 songs in their catalog. Like Ruffin to the Tempts. They weren't goin strong, 76-79 was their strongest. By 81 not so much. They hadn't had a hit record since 79.

I completely agree.

Maybe commercially but, to me, the music was.

purplethunder3121 said:

Those who chose to do drugs can only blame themselves.

True but there is also peer pressure.

weak, wanna-be, pressure!

LoveOrConfusion said:

purplethunder3121 said:

Those who chose to do drugs can only blame themselves.

True but there is also peer pressure.

LoveOrConfusion said:

purplethunder3121 said:

Those who chose to do drugs can only blame themselves.

True but there is also peer pressure.

There may be peer pressure but in the end those who engage in the habit have only themselves to blame, unless they are children. Grown adults who go through rehab know this. And even children who get hooked have to take responsibility for the habit when they are grown or they can't recover.

purplethunder3121 said:

laurarichardson said:

purplethunder3121 said:

Those who chose to do drugs can only blame themselves.

--George talked about the havoc Sly caused and so did Bobby Womack. Neither Bobby or George pretended to be innocent but they were actually put off by his drug use which is really saying something.

Indeed. I find it amazing that George stopped doing the hard drugs after all these years...

laurarichardson said:

laurarichardson said:

purplethunder3121 said:

Those who chose to do drugs can only blame themselves.

--George talked about the havoc Sly caused and so did Bobby Womack. Neither Bobby or George pretended to be innocent but they were actually put off by his drug use which is really saying something.

Can you link me the GC stuff? I already know about Bobby; his Sly stories are crazy. Sly also sent Rick James down a bad path.

LittleBLUECorvette said:

laurarichardson said:

--George talked about the havoc Sly caused and so did Bobby Womack. Neither Bobby or George pretended to be innocent but they were actually put off by his drug use which is really saying something.

As crazy az it sounds some people can handle drugs some can't Sly could not. Seems like George and Bootsy could for the most part.

It's amazing that Sly is still around. And ole Keith Richards, for that matter. George is sharp as a tack before a show. I sat in the friends & family section before one of his shows in 2014 and met him coming through when he first arrived. Bootsy doesn't seem to have any problems these days either...except that he ain't getting any younger.

LoveOrConfusion said:

laurarichardson said:

purplethunder3121 said: --George talked about the havoc Sly caused and so did Bobby Womack. Neither Bobby or George pretended to be innocent but they were actually put off by his drug use which is really saying something.

Can you link me the GC stuff? I already know about Bobby; his Sly stories are crazy. Sly also sent Rick James down a bad path.

It is in George's autobiograhpy. It is actually sad because he wanted to help Sly and he admits to having his issues with drugs but hanging out with Sly sent him into the deep end.

laurarichardson said:

LoveOrConfusion said:

Can you link me the GC stuff? I already know about Bobby; his Sly stories are crazy. Sly also sent Rick James down a bad path.

It is in George's autobiograhpy. It is actually sad because he wanted to help Sly and he admits to having his issues with drugs but hanging out with Sly sent him into the deep end.

Thanks. I have been meaning to read his autobiograhpy.

MR FUNK!

From reading George Clinton's autobiography I got the impression that Sly was a toxic influence that he didn't dare turn his back on even though they were supposed to be friends.

I remember reading in Deborah's book that Sly used to beat the snot out of her too.

^

babynoz said:

From reading George Clinton's autobiography I got the impression that Sly was a toxic influence that he didn't dare turn his back on even though they were supposed to be friends.

I remember reading in Deborah's book that Sly used to beat the snot out of her too.

Interesting.

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Sly forced her to have an abortion w/ a coat hanger too

MD431Madcat said:

^

Did you mean being a violence-prone coke fiend ain't easy?

Sly was actually a pimp. Deborah also spoke about that in her book.

LoveOrConfusion said:

THANK YOU!

LoveOrConfusion said:

Sly was actually a pimp. Deborah also spoke about that in her book.

The book Dig If U Will The Picture said that Sly was more warmly funky than Prince.

2freaky4church1 said:

The book Dig If U Will The Picture said that Sly was more warmly funky than Prince.

LittleBLUECorvette said:

LoveOrConfusion said:

Sly was actually a pimp. Deborah also spoke about that in her book.

Sly, Guutar Watson, Bobby Bland and pretty sure a few others were actual pimps.

A damn shame they all went down that path...

LoveOrConfusion said:

LittleBLUECorvette said:

LoveOrConfusion said:

A damn shame they all went down that path...

I think they were pimps first lol.

Regardless, it's not a good life choice and detrimental to the community.

LittleBLUECorvette said:

Sly was not the problem. P-Funk was into drugs before Sly got with them. Sly was into drugs before he joined P-Funk. The first record he appears in was Electric Spanking. They had already peaked by 1981.

True indeed but, just being nitpicky, Sly was with P-Funk by 1976- check him out on the PFunk Earth Tour stop in Houston (he's called onstage during "Tear The Roof Off...".

PFunk had a drug problem with band members by the time they recorded "Super Stupid" on the Maggot Brain album (Tiki, Hazel, and who knows who else...).